Tag Archives: accidents

Abde Elshafei. Photo courtesy of Niko Kirov.We recently received the following message from a neighbor:

From Abde Elshafei and Family:

Dear North Beacon Hill Neighbors,

I moved to the neighborhood last August in a house that my friend Niko purchased on 12th Ave S. I have experienced nothing but a very friendly and cool vibe from all my new neighbors.

That changed this Monday, March 25th. While riding my bicycle back from the Red Apple market I was struck by a car on the 13th Ave S and S Stevens Street intersection. The impact knocked me completely unconscious, broke my pelvis, injured my shoulder and I received a severe concussion that included bleeding internal to my brain.

I was fortunate enough to survive the accident and I am very grateful for that and I just found out that a few friendly neighbors near that intersection immediately came out to help me and called emergency services.

Unfortunately, the driver that struck me fled the scene and my family and I have been unable to find out who that driver is. The knowledge that we do have is that they were going down south on 13th Ave S in a white or grey sedan and that they made a quick left on S Winthrop Street.

I ask anybody who has any knowledge of said incident to please contact my friend Niko via phone or e-mail. His information is below:

A 50-year-old driver accused of injuring a man and his son, resulting in the younger man losing part of his leg, in a crash on Beacon Hill Saturday night was charged today with two counts of vehicular assault.

Rodney James allegedly had a breath alcohol content of 0.16, twice the legal limit, according to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court. Police say that James was speeding east in the 1700 block of South Columbian Way when he lost control of his 1998 Corvette. The sports car slid across a sidewalk, into a driveway and into Wah Wong and his son who were standing, court papers said.

Update: Wah Wong runs the Jade West Cafe in West Seattle, and the West Seattle Blog has been covering the situation at the cafe with the Wongs currently at Harborview hospital. I’d like to add our wishes for a speedy recovery. Thanks, Tracy!

On December 12th at approximately 7:08 pm, a 1998 black Chevy Corvette was travelling eastbound in the 1700 Block of South Columbian Way when the Corvette veered off the street and onto the driveway/front yard of a house and struck two pedestrians. The two people were standing at the back of their parked car unloading luggage from the trunk. The Corvette struck the two individuals with the front of the car, pinning the two people between the two cars momentarily before bouncing off and coming to a rest facing westbound. The pedestrians each suffered serious injuries to their legs and were transported to the hospital for treatment. The driver of the Corvette was evaulated at the scene for possible signs of impairment/intoxication. The 50-year old driver of the Corvette was arrested and later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Vehicular Assault. The Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded to the scene and conducted the investigation.

There are a few places on Beacon Hill that can be slick even in frostless conditions such as we have today: for example, on South Massachusetts Street just east of 17th Avenue South, where there is what seems to be a permanent water leak wetting the road. Later this week, the precipitation will return, and there could be ice—or even snow—to contend with. Please be careful when navigating the streets and sidewalks of our hilly neighborhood.

360 days ago, the snow began to fall. Beacon Avenue looked like this the next morning. Photo by Ali R.

On 11/03/09, at approximately 4:45 p.m., a bicyclist was traveling [northbound] on Beacon Ave S. approaching S. College St. As the Bicyclist approached S. College St, a pedestrian going [westbound] across Beacon Ave S. stepped into the roadway.

The Bicyclist was unable to avoid the pedestrian and collided with him.

The pedestrian sustained a serious head injury and Seattle Fire Department Medic transported him to Harborview Medical Center (HMC).

During the investigation, HMC stated that the pedestrian’s medical condition improved to become non-life threatening.

An officer responded to the scene to screen the bicyclist for any signs of impairment due to drugs/alcohol. The officer determined that the bicyclist was not impaired.

On 10-25-09 at 10:00 p.m., a black Honda, CBR1100 Motorcycle, driven by a 32-year-old male was traveling westbound on S. Myrtle St. approaching Beacon Ave S. at a very high rate of speed.

At the same time a black Chrysler Crossfire was stopped at the red traffic signal on S. Myrtle St at Beacon Ave S facing westbound. The Crossfire started to continue westbound after the green light changed for westbound traffic, when it was struck from the rear by the motorcycle. The Motorcycle driver was thrown from the bike and struck by another vehicle which was traveling East bound on S. Myrtle.

The Seattle Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced the 32-year-old male dead at the scene.

The King County Medical Examiner responded and gathered evidence and recover the body.

Traffic collision Detectives responded and investigated the collision and processed the scene.

Photo by Joel LeeEarlier this evening, around 8pm, there was a radio report of a blocking injury accident in the 3600 block of Beacon Ave S. We couldn’t make it out there to check it out ourselves, but Joel Lee did and sends in this report and photo:

As far as I can tell everyone is fine, but there was just a roll-over accident on the corner of Beacon and Spokane. They are still cleaning it up and traffic is moving through the area except for part of Spokane which is still shut down.

While the Link rail line has yet to even officially open, a train/car collision has already occurred earlier tonight. KIRO TV has a slideshow of the accident involving a light rail train and a little Toyota Yaris in the at-grade portion of the route along MLK Way at South Dawson Street. Almost certainly, this won’t be the last.

The Seattle P-I reports that a vehicle-pedestrian collision was reported just before 2:30 pm today at Beacon Avenue South and South Columbian Way. Police are investigating the incident.

Edited to add further info:

KOMO 4 has a photo and further information. A 60 year old woman driving near the above intersection collided with another car, then veered into a grocery store parking lot and hit two women there. One pedestrian has broken bones, and the driver and the other pedestrian have minor injuries.

Edited yet again, 10:19pm::

The accident was worse than KOMO’s information stated. According to Seattle Police, four vehicles were involved in the collision, and there were life-threatening injuries to at least two people. An 81-year-old woman driving a Lexus sedan lost control of her car while attempting to back out of a parking space in the parking lot on the northwest corner of Beacon and Columbian. Then she hit a woman who had been a passenger in her car, then continued backward, striking another car and pinning its driver, then hit yet another vehicle. The driver of the Lexus and one of the pedestrians were transported to Harborview with life-threatening injuries; the other pedestrian was transported to Harborview with non-life-threatening injuries. Police are still investigating the accident.